Title: Jaxxon's Twi'leks 9-- Blessing
author : helgaleena helgaleenas@yahoo.com
Series: post-TPM
Rating: PG-13 for nudity and implied R stuff
Category: slash, het, h/c
Warning: violence implied
Disclaimer: Lucas is god of Star wars and owns everything; I am nothing
Summary: the continuing story of Jaxxon and Quinlan Vos. The others help Rena's sister decide her future
More on Jaxxon at web-strip Jaxxon's 11 at theforce.net
Authors note: this Twi'lek women's ritual is extremely loosely based upon a Navajo Blessing Way ceremony. No blasphemy intended. Rituals can be a powerful integrating force in any being's life.
links to previous episodes of Jaxxon's Twi'leks can be found here: http://www.livejournal.com/users/hl
previous chapter: http://www.livejournal.com/community/sw
The women had arranged cushions in a circle, in the center of the main area. "We are so lucky to have you, Oni, to lead the singing, and Niala to do the painting," said Lana. Her pale orange lekku were bouncing , along with the rest of her, in excitement.
Lady Lenara took charge. "Who wants to do feet and lekku?"
"I don't mind," said Meena, shaking her yellow head-tails out. "The parts are very simple." Sadly, Meena did not remember the words. As she was obviously adult, she must have been blessed at some time in the past, and she had participated in other Sister blessings in Jabba's palace. She was quite willing to do her part. The others would coach her through.
"I want to give her Mother's necklace," said Rena, "so I will do knees and neck."
"Very well. Lana, you do arms and thighs. We have strings to stand in place of bracelets. And Oni and Niala can do breasts and sex. We are using her own clothing.
"I prefer to do belly." Lenara knew this was a key part of the proceedings, and wanted it safely under her control.
"Can I do something?" asked Aayla.
"No, dear, you have not had the blessing yourself--- wait, do we have a drum?"
"No, not really." Lana looked worried. Lenara smiled reassuringly.
"We'll use a pot. Right, Meena?" Evidently they shared a memory of drumming on a pot on another occasion like this. Meena giggled.
"Yes, Aayla, you can keep rhythm for us as Oni leads us with her fine voice." Lana was bringing in a large pan from the kitchen area. "You sit our here, outside the circle. We adult women form the circle, and Lila will be coming as soon as she is ready."
"Do my boss and Jaxxon have to leave?"
"No, they just may not sing. Not that they know the words anyway, of course." Meena giggled again. All of them had infectious high spirits concerning what they were about to do. Lana, the youngest and bounciest, plopped down beside Aayla.
"I will tell you something about the Sister Blessing, Aayla, because I had mine not long ago. It is so beautiful." Indeed, Lana's turquoise dyed eyes sparkled with tears just talking about it, noted the padawan.
"When a girl turns seventeen, a number which cannot be divided, she is ready to be reborn as a full Twi'lek woman. It is like being born as a baby in some ways. We call our sister to come out to us, and she stands up. Then we praise her, from the outside to the center of her. And we give presents from each of us, to the different parts of her. Then she dances like a planet, spinning around, until her balance fails. When she comes to her knees, she will see something lucky for her life to come."
"What did you see, Lana?"
"I saw my Mistress Lenara." A smile lit her peachy face. Aayla was intrigued. She wondered if Mistress Lenara had arranged it somehow.
"Well, I saw a drum, " said Oni. "And sure enough, I am better off when I keep to my music." She was nibbling at one of the kabobs Jaxxon had provided, and looked the better off for that.
Lenara came bustling back with Lila's cleaned and dry clothing. "Let us start the chanting soon. Niala will be finished with her in five minutes, she says."
The females gathered on the circle of cushions. It occurred to Aayla that this ritual was likely being enacted somewhere in the galaxy at this very moment, wherever a community of Twi'lek females, spread out by slavery's diaspora, were numerous enough to perform it. It made her itch to return and question the other Twi'lek females at the Temple about it. In only a few months she would be seventeen, too.
The first chant was very simple. Once Oni raised her voice to the melody, the others gradually joined the repetitive refrain. Aayla soon found a beat that she could add, with her hand upon the pot.
I hear a heart beating ,
I hear a heart beating,
I hear a heart beating,
aya aya ayah.... they sang in Twi'lek. Aayla considered running a translation to her watching Master, then decided against it. She did not want to risk the sanctity of whatever this was.
Eventually, the fresher door opened, and Niala emerged, steering Lila, who was completely enveloped in a bed-sheet. The gray skinned woman, eyes glowing and lekku twirling in excitement, guided the anonymous bundle to the center of the circle and sat her down, making sure the drapery wasn't tangled beneath her. Then she took her place, closing the circle. At once, the chanting changed.
Come out sister,
Come out beautiful,
Come out woman,
Come out for blessing.
Come out into the world,
Come out from the world,
Come out to us,
Come out from us,
Come out and go,
Come out and go....
This chorus they repeated, so many times that the sounds began to blur together in Aayla's ears. Lenara was fussing to make certain everything needed was in easy reach of the circle, including several bottles of the bubbly. The others concentrated fully upon chanting to the girl under the covering. Aayla began to realize that if she wanted to, Lila would be allowed to stay under there all night.
Aayla's drum hand began to get a little sore; she quit banging quite so hard upon her pot, and tried to shake the kinks out of her arm. If it got worse, she'd switch hands.
The chanters drank wine and kept their throats wet, but never ceased. Perhaps Lila was running out of air under her cover. At last she poked out her head. The chant stopped.
She was painted completely red. All the bruises and scars she had received in her short life had been disguised by the brilliant, lucky color, the color of the newly born. Her brown eyes looked fresh and innocent, as if she had never looked out of them before. It was amazing to Aayla.
A new chant began, another simple one.
Stand up woman,
Stand up beautiful,
Stand up beautiful,
Stand up among us....
Slowly, at her own pace, Lila stood, letting the sheet fall. Every part of her was new and red, even the palms of her hands. Her lekku twitched a bit, but not in nervousness or excitement, rather as if they were testing the world around her. She didn't know what to do with her hands, but eventually let them rest against her hips. On this occasion, she was truly beautiful, and was trying to believe it. The chant seemed to the others to describe her perfectly.
Oni began the words of the next part, and Meena rose to perform the actions, stumbling a little over the words as she followed along.
See left and right lekku,
See them in the world,
See them in beauty,
Beautiful left and right lekku.
See left and right foot,
See them in the world.
See them in beauty,
Beautiful left and right foot....
Meena carefully put Lila's head-tails through their harness, as a mother would do for a little girl. The refrain continued as she gently slipped on each of Lila's sandals. Amazingly, Lila began to smile. It was the first time Aayla had seen it, and it improved her face a lot.
The group sang through the refrain one final time, in honor of the blessed feet and lekku. Then Oni began the next part.
See left and right knee,
See them in the world,
See them in beauty,
Beautiful left and right knee.
See the tall neck,
See it in the world,
See it in beauty,
Beautiful tall neck.....
Rena, tears running her eye-paint again, performed this part. First, she took a small cloth and rubbed the red away from her sister's knee-caps. Then she stood, and tearfully unclasped the necklace she wore, fastening it around the neck of her sister. Lila did not share her emotion, only let her sister adorn her without blinking, as if not fully understanding what it might mean. After all, was a newborn expected to understand? Aayla suspected that Lila was avoiding clues to past unhappiness.
The next part began once Rena's gifting and the praise of knees and neck were done. This time Lana fastened circlets of string around each of Lila's wrists, and removed a smudge of paint from each hip, while the company chanted--
See left and right thigh,
See them in the world,
See them in beauty,
Beautiful left and right thigh.
See left and right arm,
See them in the world,
See them in beauty,
Beautiful left and right arm...
Lila was staring at the circlets of string as if they were made of precious gems. Her smile grew wider, and tears actually wet her eyes. For some reason this part moved her very much. Aayla supposed that in more affluent families, the bracelets really would be made of gems, and there would be many of them. But Lila and her sister were alone in the world.
The next chant began. Oni and Niala each took a garment, and took turns helping Lila into them.
See left and right breast,
See them in the world,
See them in beauty,
Beautiful left and right breast.
See left and right labia,
See them in the world,
See them in beauty,
Beautiful left and right labia....
As Niala helped her step into her shorts, and Oni put her arms through the halter, Lila began to smile with true joy, showing all her pointy little teeth. She seemed to find her own clean clothes to be quite as splendid as a royal regalia. She began to take deep breaths, energized and ecstatic. As the blessing of those parts was repeated, she smiled around at her audience.
Then Lenara rose for the last part, the belly. In her hands were a sweet and a glass of wine.
See the beautiful belly,
See it in the world,
See it in beauty,
Beautiful belly.
Here is food for the belly,
Here is water for the belly,
Here is where life is,
Beautiful belly.
The first thing Lenara did was to decorously kiss the belly of Lila, right above the umbilical. Her lips came away red. Aayla suddenly had an idea of why so many feminine Twi'lek garments left this part exposed. Then, with great ceremony, Lenara lifted the sweet to Lila's lips, and waited for her to take it.
Shyly, Lila nibbled off a bit. The sweetness seemed to surprise her very much, as if she'd never eaten one before. She hurriedly took the remainder from Lenara's fingers as well. As they watched, Lila let it melt in her mouth with obvious bliss. Her hips began to shudder. Swiftly, Lenara held up the glass of wine and dribbled some into her mouth.
The sweet plus the wine was too much pleasure for poor Lila. With a little cry, her knees gave out, and her hips rocked. Lenara kept her from falling, held her steady until she came back to herself enough to stand on her own. Several of the women exchanged glad looks about this outcome. Evidently it was some sort of good omen. Rena's violet face was streaked with her eye paint again, but she smiled brightly as she chanted.
Finally, as Lenara sat down again, they began the last part of the chanting.
Rise up and go,
Rise up and go,
Go in beauty,
Center of the world,....
After a while, Lila raised her arms. She seemed to be stretching herself like a growing plant in sunlight. The repetetive chant continued. Having stretched, Lila seemed at a loss what to do next. Her sisters' hands reached out and began to turn her sunwise, getting her to spin around, leaving smudges in the red paint of her legs. Urging her to spin faster, the hands acquired further smears of red. Lila and her lekku began to spin on their own. The women obligingly sped up the chant, encouraging her to spin still faster.
She was giggling and blissful now, holding her arms out wide to balance herself, sisters' arms reaching out to correct her when she wobbled, rotating ever faster. Aayla made sure to speed up the rhythm of her banging pot, keeping pace.
At last Lila stumbled, and helpful hands caught her, guiding her to rest upon her knees. There was a resounding silence. Panting, Lila kept her head down, catching her breath. Anxious eyes and lekku sought the direction that her eyes would go when she raised them.
She raised her head slowly. Her eyes were focused on something hanging upon Lenara's wall. A scourge.
Aayla shivered to see the ferocity that entered that red-painted face. Lila stood, and all eyes followed her. She went to the scourge and lifted it down. She ran the knotted strands lovingly through her fingers. Paint reddened them. Her brown eyes were alive with fire, when she looked up from what her fingers had done.
"Mistress Lenara, I will buy this from you."
Lenara snorted with private amusement. "Keep it as your blessing gift. I have others."
Lila then went to her sister, scourge in hand. Rena was scrubbing her cheeks free of eye paint with a tissue, reddening them deeper than their usual violet. Lila knelt and lifted her chin, leaving another smear of red.
"I am staying here, Rena. When the Lady Lenara's regular customers come here, they will find me, instead. I will need less and less spice. But this is my path now, and yours is not the same."
Rena gulped and nodded. Her eyes were on the necklace she had worn for so long, around the bright red neck of her newly born sister. She had seen nothing like this at her own Blessing, it was true. The last of her eye-paint washed away in fresh tears as they hugged. For the first time in her memory, she felt her affection returned.
As they drew apart, Lila laughed. "Look at you!" Indeed, Rena was now in definite need of a bath and clean clothing, being all smeared liberally with red. General hilarity ensued, as each woman clamored for a ruddy hug from the newly blessed.
Some time later, as the large tub was being filled to wash away the last of the red from them all, Aayla went over to the sofa where Quin and Jaxxon had sat through it all. Jaxxon had his head sideways upon the back-rest and was snoring gently. But her master's eyes were alert, beneath the curtain of his dark locks.
Aayla had a streak of red paint on one cheek, and her eyes were bright.
//Master, when I turn seventeen, I would like a ceremony like this.//
//I don't see any reason why not, padawan. We may even still be with these women then.//
She spoke aloud, then, for the others to hear. "Master Kim, may I stay here tonight? Lenara says I may."
"Fine. Have fun."
Quin started to shake Jaxxon by the shoulder. "Come on, Captain, let's get you back to the Rabbit's Foot. The women will be kicking us out for the night."
The big Lepi mumbled something sleepily, and stood himself up. But before they reached the door, Lenara stopped them. "One moment, Jaxxon."
As he turned to her, she rose up onto her toes, and slapped him soundly on both cheeks.
His ears rose straight up in surprise. He was completely awake now. "What was that for?"
Her caramel eyes were blazing up at him. "Two times you called me Leni instead of Lady Lenara, in front of the others. Two times! I do not forget, even if you do. Now good night."
As she closed the door behind them, Jaxxon was chuckling. Quin asked, "What was that about?"
"Oh, I earned it, Kim. I asked her not to call me Bunny, so I was supposed to call her Lady Lenara Olan in return; that was our bargain. Isn't she something?"
"The whole evening was something. Too bad you missed a lot of it."
"Hah. I've got you, partner. All we have to do is hold hands, and I know what you know."
"Cheeky, aren't we, Bunny?"
"Wise-ass."
TBC
part10-- http://www.livejournal.com/community/sl
author : helgaleena helgaleenas@yahoo.com
Series: post-TPM
Rating: PG-13 for nudity and implied R stuff
Category: slash, het, h/c
Warning: violence implied
Disclaimer: Lucas is god of Star wars and owns everything; I am nothing
Summary: the continuing story of Jaxxon and Quinlan Vos. The others help Rena's sister decide her future
More on Jaxxon at web-strip Jaxxon's 11 at theforce.net
Authors note: this Twi'lek women's ritual is extremely loosely based upon a Navajo Blessing Way ceremony. No blasphemy intended. Rituals can be a powerful integrating force in any being's life.
links to previous episodes of Jaxxon's Twi'leks can be found here: http://www.livejournal.com/users/hl
previous chapter: http://www.livejournal.com/community/sw
The women had arranged cushions in a circle, in the center of the main area. "We are so lucky to have you, Oni, to lead the singing, and Niala to do the painting," said Lana. Her pale orange lekku were bouncing , along with the rest of her, in excitement.
Lady Lenara took charge. "Who wants to do feet and lekku?"
"I don't mind," said Meena, shaking her yellow head-tails out. "The parts are very simple." Sadly, Meena did not remember the words. As she was obviously adult, she must have been blessed at some time in the past, and she had participated in other Sister blessings in Jabba's palace. She was quite willing to do her part. The others would coach her through.
"I want to give her Mother's necklace," said Rena, "so I will do knees and neck."
"Very well. Lana, you do arms and thighs. We have strings to stand in place of bracelets. And Oni and Niala can do breasts and sex. We are using her own clothing.
"I prefer to do belly." Lenara knew this was a key part of the proceedings, and wanted it safely under her control.
"Can I do something?" asked Aayla.
"No, dear, you have not had the blessing yourself--- wait, do we have a drum?"
"No, not really." Lana looked worried. Lenara smiled reassuringly.
"We'll use a pot. Right, Meena?" Evidently they shared a memory of drumming on a pot on another occasion like this. Meena giggled.
"Yes, Aayla, you can keep rhythm for us as Oni leads us with her fine voice." Lana was bringing in a large pan from the kitchen area. "You sit our here, outside the circle. We adult women form the circle, and Lila will be coming as soon as she is ready."
"Do my boss and Jaxxon have to leave?"
"No, they just may not sing. Not that they know the words anyway, of course." Meena giggled again. All of them had infectious high spirits concerning what they were about to do. Lana, the youngest and bounciest, plopped down beside Aayla.
"I will tell you something about the Sister Blessing, Aayla, because I had mine not long ago. It is so beautiful." Indeed, Lana's turquoise dyed eyes sparkled with tears just talking about it, noted the padawan.
"When a girl turns seventeen, a number which cannot be divided, she is ready to be reborn as a full Twi'lek woman. It is like being born as a baby in some ways. We call our sister to come out to us, and she stands up. Then we praise her, from the outside to the center of her. And we give presents from each of us, to the different parts of her. Then she dances like a planet, spinning around, until her balance fails. When she comes to her knees, she will see something lucky for her life to come."
"What did you see, Lana?"
"I saw my Mistress Lenara." A smile lit her peachy face. Aayla was intrigued. She wondered if Mistress Lenara had arranged it somehow.
"Well, I saw a drum, " said Oni. "And sure enough, I am better off when I keep to my music." She was nibbling at one of the kabobs Jaxxon had provided, and looked the better off for that.
Lenara came bustling back with Lila's cleaned and dry clothing. "Let us start the chanting soon. Niala will be finished with her in five minutes, she says."
The females gathered on the circle of cushions. It occurred to Aayla that this ritual was likely being enacted somewhere in the galaxy at this very moment, wherever a community of Twi'lek females, spread out by slavery's diaspora, were numerous enough to perform it. It made her itch to return and question the other Twi'lek females at the Temple about it. In only a few months she would be seventeen, too.
The first chant was very simple. Once Oni raised her voice to the melody, the others gradually joined the repetitive refrain. Aayla soon found a beat that she could add, with her hand upon the pot.
I hear a heart beating ,
I hear a heart beating,
I hear a heart beating,
aya aya ayah.... they sang in Twi'lek. Aayla considered running a translation to her watching Master, then decided against it. She did not want to risk the sanctity of whatever this was.
Eventually, the fresher door opened, and Niala emerged, steering Lila, who was completely enveloped in a bed-sheet. The gray skinned woman, eyes glowing and lekku twirling in excitement, guided the anonymous bundle to the center of the circle and sat her down, making sure the drapery wasn't tangled beneath her. Then she took her place, closing the circle. At once, the chanting changed.
Come out sister,
Come out beautiful,
Come out woman,
Come out for blessing.
Come out into the world,
Come out from the world,
Come out to us,
Come out from us,
Come out and go,
Come out and go....
This chorus they repeated, so many times that the sounds began to blur together in Aayla's ears. Lenara was fussing to make certain everything needed was in easy reach of the circle, including several bottles of the bubbly. The others concentrated fully upon chanting to the girl under the covering. Aayla began to realize that if she wanted to, Lila would be allowed to stay under there all night.
Aayla's drum hand began to get a little sore; she quit banging quite so hard upon her pot, and tried to shake the kinks out of her arm. If it got worse, she'd switch hands.
The chanters drank wine and kept their throats wet, but never ceased. Perhaps Lila was running out of air under her cover. At last she poked out her head. The chant stopped.
She was painted completely red. All the bruises and scars she had received in her short life had been disguised by the brilliant, lucky color, the color of the newly born. Her brown eyes looked fresh and innocent, as if she had never looked out of them before. It was amazing to Aayla.
A new chant began, another simple one.
Stand up woman,
Stand up beautiful,
Stand up beautiful,
Stand up among us....
Slowly, at her own pace, Lila stood, letting the sheet fall. Every part of her was new and red, even the palms of her hands. Her lekku twitched a bit, but not in nervousness or excitement, rather as if they were testing the world around her. She didn't know what to do with her hands, but eventually let them rest against her hips. On this occasion, she was truly beautiful, and was trying to believe it. The chant seemed to the others to describe her perfectly.
Oni began the words of the next part, and Meena rose to perform the actions, stumbling a little over the words as she followed along.
See left and right lekku,
See them in the world,
See them in beauty,
Beautiful left and right lekku.
See left and right foot,
See them in the world.
See them in beauty,
Beautiful left and right foot....
Meena carefully put Lila's head-tails through their harness, as a mother would do for a little girl. The refrain continued as she gently slipped on each of Lila's sandals. Amazingly, Lila began to smile. It was the first time Aayla had seen it, and it improved her face a lot.
The group sang through the refrain one final time, in honor of the blessed feet and lekku. Then Oni began the next part.
See left and right knee,
See them in the world,
See them in beauty,
Beautiful left and right knee.
See the tall neck,
See it in the world,
See it in beauty,
Beautiful tall neck.....
Rena, tears running her eye-paint again, performed this part. First, she took a small cloth and rubbed the red away from her sister's knee-caps. Then she stood, and tearfully unclasped the necklace she wore, fastening it around the neck of her sister. Lila did not share her emotion, only let her sister adorn her without blinking, as if not fully understanding what it might mean. After all, was a newborn expected to understand? Aayla suspected that Lila was avoiding clues to past unhappiness.
The next part began once Rena's gifting and the praise of knees and neck were done. This time Lana fastened circlets of string around each of Lila's wrists, and removed a smudge of paint from each hip, while the company chanted--
See left and right thigh,
See them in the world,
See them in beauty,
Beautiful left and right thigh.
See left and right arm,
See them in the world,
See them in beauty,
Beautiful left and right arm...
Lila was staring at the circlets of string as if they were made of precious gems. Her smile grew wider, and tears actually wet her eyes. For some reason this part moved her very much. Aayla supposed that in more affluent families, the bracelets really would be made of gems, and there would be many of them. But Lila and her sister were alone in the world.
The next chant began. Oni and Niala each took a garment, and took turns helping Lila into them.
See left and right breast,
See them in the world,
See them in beauty,
Beautiful left and right breast.
See left and right labia,
See them in the world,
See them in beauty,
Beautiful left and right labia....
As Niala helped her step into her shorts, and Oni put her arms through the halter, Lila began to smile with true joy, showing all her pointy little teeth. She seemed to find her own clean clothes to be quite as splendid as a royal regalia. She began to take deep breaths, energized and ecstatic. As the blessing of those parts was repeated, she smiled around at her audience.
Then Lenara rose for the last part, the belly. In her hands were a sweet and a glass of wine.
See the beautiful belly,
See it in the world,
See it in beauty,
Beautiful belly.
Here is food for the belly,
Here is water for the belly,
Here is where life is,
Beautiful belly.
The first thing Lenara did was to decorously kiss the belly of Lila, right above the umbilical. Her lips came away red. Aayla suddenly had an idea of why so many feminine Twi'lek garments left this part exposed. Then, with great ceremony, Lenara lifted the sweet to Lila's lips, and waited for her to take it.
Shyly, Lila nibbled off a bit. The sweetness seemed to surprise her very much, as if she'd never eaten one before. She hurriedly took the remainder from Lenara's fingers as well. As they watched, Lila let it melt in her mouth with obvious bliss. Her hips began to shudder. Swiftly, Lenara held up the glass of wine and dribbled some into her mouth.
The sweet plus the wine was too much pleasure for poor Lila. With a little cry, her knees gave out, and her hips rocked. Lenara kept her from falling, held her steady until she came back to herself enough to stand on her own. Several of the women exchanged glad looks about this outcome. Evidently it was some sort of good omen. Rena's violet face was streaked with her eye paint again, but she smiled brightly as she chanted.
Finally, as Lenara sat down again, they began the last part of the chanting.
Rise up and go,
Rise up and go,
Go in beauty,
Center of the world,....
After a while, Lila raised her arms. She seemed to be stretching herself like a growing plant in sunlight. The repetetive chant continued. Having stretched, Lila seemed at a loss what to do next. Her sisters' hands reached out and began to turn her sunwise, getting her to spin around, leaving smudges in the red paint of her legs. Urging her to spin faster, the hands acquired further smears of red. Lila and her lekku began to spin on their own. The women obligingly sped up the chant, encouraging her to spin still faster.
She was giggling and blissful now, holding her arms out wide to balance herself, sisters' arms reaching out to correct her when she wobbled, rotating ever faster. Aayla made sure to speed up the rhythm of her banging pot, keeping pace.
At last Lila stumbled, and helpful hands caught her, guiding her to rest upon her knees. There was a resounding silence. Panting, Lila kept her head down, catching her breath. Anxious eyes and lekku sought the direction that her eyes would go when she raised them.
She raised her head slowly. Her eyes were focused on something hanging upon Lenara's wall. A scourge.
Aayla shivered to see the ferocity that entered that red-painted face. Lila stood, and all eyes followed her. She went to the scourge and lifted it down. She ran the knotted strands lovingly through her fingers. Paint reddened them. Her brown eyes were alive with fire, when she looked up from what her fingers had done.
"Mistress Lenara, I will buy this from you."
Lenara snorted with private amusement. "Keep it as your blessing gift. I have others."
Lila then went to her sister, scourge in hand. Rena was scrubbing her cheeks free of eye paint with a tissue, reddening them deeper than their usual violet. Lila knelt and lifted her chin, leaving another smear of red.
"I am staying here, Rena. When the Lady Lenara's regular customers come here, they will find me, instead. I will need less and less spice. But this is my path now, and yours is not the same."
Rena gulped and nodded. Her eyes were on the necklace she had worn for so long, around the bright red neck of her newly born sister. She had seen nothing like this at her own Blessing, it was true. The last of her eye-paint washed away in fresh tears as they hugged. For the first time in her memory, she felt her affection returned.
As they drew apart, Lila laughed. "Look at you!" Indeed, Rena was now in definite need of a bath and clean clothing, being all smeared liberally with red. General hilarity ensued, as each woman clamored for a ruddy hug from the newly blessed.
Some time later, as the large tub was being filled to wash away the last of the red from them all, Aayla went over to the sofa where Quin and Jaxxon had sat through it all. Jaxxon had his head sideways upon the back-rest and was snoring gently. But her master's eyes were alert, beneath the curtain of his dark locks.
Aayla had a streak of red paint on one cheek, and her eyes were bright.
//Master, when I turn seventeen, I would like a ceremony like this.//
//I don't see any reason why not, padawan. We may even still be with these women then.//
She spoke aloud, then, for the others to hear. "Master Kim, may I stay here tonight? Lenara says I may."
"Fine. Have fun."
Quin started to shake Jaxxon by the shoulder. "Come on, Captain, let's get you back to the Rabbit's Foot. The women will be kicking us out for the night."
The big Lepi mumbled something sleepily, and stood himself up. But before they reached the door, Lenara stopped them. "One moment, Jaxxon."
As he turned to her, she rose up onto her toes, and slapped him soundly on both cheeks.
His ears rose straight up in surprise. He was completely awake now. "What was that for?"
Her caramel eyes were blazing up at him. "Two times you called me Leni instead of Lady Lenara, in front of the others. Two times! I do not forget, even if you do. Now good night."
As she closed the door behind them, Jaxxon was chuckling. Quin asked, "What was that about?"
"Oh, I earned it, Kim. I asked her not to call me Bunny, so I was supposed to call her Lady Lenara Olan in return; that was our bargain. Isn't she something?"
"The whole evening was something. Too bad you missed a lot of it."
"Hah. I've got you, partner. All we have to do is hold hands, and I know what you know."
"Cheeky, aren't we, Bunny?"
"Wise-ass."
TBC
part10-- http://www.livejournal.com/community/sl
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